Go Camping by Maddie Frost

Abstract

Reviewed by: Go Camping by Maddie Frost Ally Byerly Frost, Maddie Go Camping; written and illus. by Maddie Frost. Viking, 2023 [96p] (WOMBATS!) Trade ed. ISBN 9780593465295 $12.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593465417 $7.99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 1-3 Best friends Bert and Pickles are both excited for their first camping trip together, but when they set off, Bert begins to suspect that he and Pickles have vastly different visions of what constitutes camping. Pickles’ fantasies of an extravagant, luxury vacation are quickly shattered, and it seems their adventure may be over before it begins. After they stumble upon a baby koala separated from its mother, however, their quest to reunite the two forces Pickles out of his comfort zone and into the great outdoors Bert hoped to show him. Frost’s bold, cartoonish illustrations and cheery color palette are well suited to the goofy, slapdash nature of the tale. The goofy premise here falls a bit flat, and the camping plotline quickly diverges into a somewhat random and anticlimactic side quest, in which the characters gain little depth and the narrative little nuance. The result is a comic that relies overmuch on slapstick humor but is nevertheless a quick, amusing read that will be accessible to many struggling and reluctant readers, particularly fans of Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois